Time Cubed
by dragons-syn
Summary: (AU) Takes place after Time Squared. The effects of Gabriel Ashlocke killing his parents have unforeseen consequences. Jesse-centric
1. Voyage of Discovery

Title: Time Cubed  
  
Author: dragons_syn  
  
Email: dragons_syn@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: NC-17 to R  
  
Pairing: Jesse and Grae (my own character)  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X or any of the characters of Mutant X. I am purely borrowing the characters for the purpose of entertainment. I do however own the character Grace/Grae Summary: (AU) Takes place after Time Squared. The effects of Gabriel Ashlocke killing his parents have unforeseen consequences.  
  
Chapter 1-Voyage of Discovery  
  
As the shimmering pool of light, which signified Diana Moller's ability to open portals between time periods, glimmered in the middle of the laboratory. Gabriel Ashlocke dove into the portal head first, thus escaping Mutant X.  
  
"Damn it!" Brennan yelled in frustration. "Great, how are we going to catch him now?"  
  
"Let's not worry about that now, Brennan. We will catch him sooner or later. Let's go home." Adam said reassuringly to Brennan, putting his hand on his shoulder, knowing full well that Brennan was worried about what Ashlocke could be planning with regards to Shalimar.  
  
As Adam, Shalimar, Brennan, and Emma all disappeared into the portal, Diana and Jesse were left. Jesse looked over his shoulder. He was expecting Diana to be following right behind. When she hadn't moved from the spot where she had conjured the portal, Jesse became concerned.  
  
"Diana, you coming? Is everything OK?" Jesse asked.  
  
"Yes and No" she replied. "Remember when I told you that changing the past could have some drastic repercussions, well, it's just that.."  
  
Noticing the look on Diana's face, Jesse became concerned even more. "Diana what is it? Adam is alive; Sanctuary should be back to normal, or at least back in existence. Everything is status quo, right?" he asked.  
  
"It's just that I don't think I am going back with you. If Gabriel found me in the institution, he can find me anywhere. I don't want to have the fate of the world resting on my shoulders. What if he finds me again? What if he makes me send him back and he really screws up time?" she said, with fear.  
  
"Diana, it's OK. When we get back, we will put you in the underground, Ashlocke will never find you. I can promise you that. We can put you so far underground that not even we would be able to find you."  
  
"That's not a risk I am willing to take. I am going to go somewhere that I know that Gabriel will never find me, in another time. Jesse, go home. I will be just fine." She said as she ushered Jesse towards the portal.  
  
"Diana, please don't do this, come home with us." Jesse pleaded. It wasn't that he had feelings for Diana, he just knew what it felt like to be so different from anyone else, the pain that she wore on her face was a familiar sight, often staring right back at him in the mirror, day after day. He was not about to let Diana exile herself, because of her unique gift made her more different from everyone else, mutants and non-mutants alike.  
  
"Jesse, I have made up my mind. I had a lot of time to think about this while in the institution. I told myself that I would never let Gabriel do that to me, use me for his own purposes, manipulate circumstances for his benefit. And what did I do? Just that, it cost Mr. and Mrs. Ashlocke their lives; it almost cost Adam's his life. I can't allow myself to be used that way again. I just can't!" Diana said, trying to suppress the sobbing that threatened her composure.  
  
Before Jesse could respond, Diana conjured another portal, turned to Jesse and said "You had better hurry and go through that portal, it will only stay open for about 30 seconds after I leave. The journey to the other end will remain open as long as you are in it, but this threshold will not." Then Diana jumped through the newly opened portal and disappeared.  
  
As soon as the portal that Diana entered, disappeared, the other portal started to dissolve. Jesse having no other choice made a mad dash and dove into the portal. This time he made sure to pay attention to what went on while traveling through the portal. He was amazed at what he was witnessing, past events happening as he got closer to his own time period. Then he noticed something strange. Jesse could see the other members of Mutant X looking in the portal waiting for him to come out, but then another person crossed his path. Shaking his head, *Nah, that can't be right? There wouldn't be anybody else in here. Would there?* Jesse thought to himself. Just as quick as the other figure appeared, it disappeared, and then Jesse was thrown out of the portal and onto the floor.  
  
"Jesse!" Emma yelled, rushing to his side "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah, just fine for a person what just thrown out of a time portal. Did you see anyone else while you were going through?" he asked.  
  
"No, why did you?" Shalimar asked, wondering if maybe he hit his head a little to hard.  
  
"It's just.I thought.never mind." Jesse said realizing that even to him it sounded weird, and considering the events of the day, that was bad. 


	2. Enter Stage Left

Title: Time Cubed  
  
Author: dragons_syn  
  
Email: dragons_syn@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: NC-17 to R  
  
Pairing: Jesse and Grae (my own character)  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X or any of the characters of Mutant X. I am purely borrowing the characters for the purpose of entertainment. I do however own the character Grace/Grae Summary: (AU) Takes place after Time Squared. The effects of Gabriel Ashlocke killing his parents have unforeseen consequences.  
  
Chapter 2-Enter stage left  
  
Grace tossed and turned in her sleep. She was dreaming. She was in this swirling mass of images, some familiar and others completely unfamiliar. She didn't understand what she was looking at, what was happening all around her. All she knew was that she felt like she was being pulled, like some force was trying to drag her someplace, someplace unfamiliar and unnerving. As she kept looking around at her surroundings, below her, she watched a space shuttle take off. To her right a war was taking place. Above her a wedding of a couple whom she did not know, was taking place. And then something caught her eye; she glanced to her left and saw a figure. It was obviously a man, someone she didn't recognize, she couldn't make out his face, but she got a "vibe" from him. He didn't pose a threat but she was still unsure of who this figure was, friend or foe. And then as quickly has he appeared, he disappeared.  
  
Grace bolted up in her bed, breathing heavily.  
  
"Not again." she groaned. "What is going on with me?"  
  
She got up out of bed and quietly crept out of her bedroom and past her brothers who were asleep in the family room. Grace and her three brothers lived in a two bedroom apartment; she had her own room being the only girl. The boys however shared the remaining bedroom, whoever either got home first and crashed out on the bed got the room for the night, or whoever needed some private time with a "friend", got the room for the night. She always thought it was funny that her brothers would always say "friend". It was almost like they thought she was naïve about sex and "relations" as they put it sometimes. She took notice that the eldest of her brothers was not sacked out in the family room so it was a safe assumption that he was with his girlfriend tonight. Grace walked as quietly as she could to the kitchen to get something, she wasn't quite sure what she wanted. A glass of milk, water, a shot of vodka. All she knew was that it was going to take her a little while to get to sleep. While staring into the refrigerator, she decided to make herself a sandwich.  
  
"Could." At that moment, upon hearing someone speak, the knife she was holding went sailing through the air at the person who had started talking. Ducking to avoid the knife, the shadowed person yelled "Whoa Jeez! What the hell is wrong with you?!"  
  
"Jesus! Tommy! Don't sneak up on me like that! Are you OK? Did I get you?" Grace said running over to her brother, her confidante, her best friend. "Tommy, did I get you?!" she asked again, turning on the kitchen light and checking him over to make sure that she didn't actually cut him.  
  
"Yeah, I am fine, what has gotten into you? Why are you so jumpy?" Tommy asked with concern as he pulled the knife from the wall. He knew all too well that when Grace got jumpy, there were only three explanations. She was either bothered by something, scared of something, or felt threatened by something. Tommy remembered the first time he and his brothers had met Grace.  
  
  
  
He and Joey were walking home from school. Doug, the eldest brother, was late from picking them up from school. That seemed to happen a lot, especially since their parents had been killed in a car accident. So Tommy and Joey, the middle brother, decided that they would just head on home. A couple of blocks from school, Doug comes pulling up beside them, apologizing profusely for being late. They all understood, that now that Doug had to work to keep them together as a family, that sometimes he was going to be late. Just as he and Joey were about to get in the car, they all heard some screaming and yelling and what sounded like a fight coming from the alley just a few feet ahead of them. Doug pulled over and parked his car and they all ran into the alley. The one thing that their parents always told them was to help those in need, so they didn't hesitate to see if they could be of some help. When they got the where the commotion was, they were dumbfounded. A gang of people, which was comprised mostly teenage boys, were picking on someone, someone who was obviously smaller than they were. This person was putting up a hell of a fight, the victim executed a perfect roundhouse kick to their attackers head, sending him to the ground, then turning to the next one and managing to connect with an upper cut to the attackers jaw, and a kick to attackers bread basket, then managing to take out a couple more of their attackers, and when it looked like the victim may have had the upper hand, the gang would overwhelm the person with sheer number of assailants, some carrying bats, others with 2 by 4s, some with chains, and still others beating the poor person with they bare hands. Then the boys would back off, almost taunting this poor creature. Doug and his brothers were not going to let this continue and joined in. As soon as the three of them showed up, the group scattered leaving this poor beaten person, lying on the floor. As Doug approached to lend a hand, he was met with a swift kick to the breadbasket and a good punch square to the face. Doug stumbled backwards, reeling from the sheer force that such a small person was able to summon. And then the person collapsed. Just fell to the ground. Obviously, this person had been taunted and beaten for quite awhile before they showed up. Joey tentatively approached the unconscious figure lying on the ground, bruised and bleeding.  
  
"Uh, Dougy, Tommy! This a girl!"  
  
"What?!" Doug and Tommy exclaimed. They were amazed that this little girl, who when they finally got a look at her, couldn't have been more than 15 years old.  
  
"Joey, pick her up. Gently. Let's get her home." Doug said.  
  
Joey gingerly picked up this poor unfortunate creature, gently laid her down in the back seat of Doug's 1967 Ford Mustang, and hopped in next to Tommy.  
  
  
  
"Heeellooo?! Earth to Major Tom? Come in Major Tom?" Grace said while snapping her fingers in front of Tommy's face.  
  
"Wha, huh? Oh, sorry, just remembering something. Anyway, as I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted." He said handing her back the knife she was using "Couldn't sleep, huh?"  
  
"Yeah." She replied.  
  
"What's wrong, Grae and don't tell me nothing, the only time you start throwing sharp objects at us, is when you are bothered by something, so what is it?"  
  
"It's noth.well.you see.I am having those weird dreams again." She said, returning to her sandwich making.  
  
"What! You don't mean the dreams that, that.THE dreams? How long? Are you OK?"  
  
"Tommy, Tommy, whoa slow down, I am fine, and they just started again tonight, but this time they were different. This time there was somebody else there with me. I couldn't see exactly who he was, but I know I felt someone else there. You want half?" she said as she sat down at the table next to Tommy, offering him part of her sandwich, while she poured herself and Tommy some milk.  
  
"Sure, while I am up" Tommy said, as he grabbed the other half the sandwich. "You wanna talk about it?"  
  
"Not right now, still a little wigged. How about tomorrow, after breakfast?"  
  
"I will hold you to that, tomorrow, or this morning, whatever, after breakfast."  
  
"You got it, I think I am going to go back to bed." She got up, finished the glass of milk, put the plate and the glass in the sink, the milk back in the refrigerator, then turned to head back to her room. "Oh and thanks!" Grace turned around and gave Tommy a kiss on the cheek. "Good night."  
  
"Good night, come and wake me up if you change your mind on the talking thing, kay?"  
  
"Kay. Nite" and with that Grace walked out of the kitchen. 


	3. Introductions and Revelations

Title: Time Cubed  
  
Author: dragons_syn  
  
Email: dragons_syn@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: NC-17 to R  
  
Pairing: Jesse and Grae (my own character)  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X or any of the characters of Mutant X. I am purely borrowing the characters for the purpose of entertainment. I do however own the character Grace/Grae Summary: (AU) Takes place after Time Squared. The effects of Gabriel Ashlocke killing his parents have unforeseen consequences.  
  
Chapter 3-Introductions and Revelations  
  
"Well, you seem to be fine, Jesse. A little bruised up, but no concussion, nothing's broken." Adam said as he just finished reading the scans he made of Jesse.  
  
"If you call a full body ache, fine, well then I guess I am. Are we done?" Jesse asked.  
  
"Yeah, we are done here. Did Diana say where she was going?"  
  
"Nope, she just said she was going to go to another time, someplace that Ashlocke could never find her. I tried to get her to come home with us, tried to convince that we could protect her in the underground." He said exasperated.  
  
"Jesse, don't beat yourself up. It was her decision, I only hope she will be alright."  
  
"Yeah, me too. Thanks for the clean bill of health. I think I am going to take a nice long, really hot shower and maybe go to bed. See ya tomorrow, Adam." Jesse said as he gave Adam a reassuringly look.  
  
"Good night, Jesse." Adam said, turning to resume his usual position behind his desk, this time sitting in front of computers and trying to find a cure for Gabriel's condition.  
  
Jesse immediately became lost in own thoughts when he left Adam and lab. *Did I actually see someone in there? I wonder if this has anything to do with Ashlocke killing his parents and screwing up something in time*  
  
"Hey Jess! Hey!" Brennan called, when he saw Jesse entered the common room.  
  
"Hey brother, *whistled* you there man!" He called again.  
  
"Huh? Oh hey man, what's up?" Jesse replied.  
  
"You OK bro? You seem a little out of it. Did Adam check you out?"  
  
"Yeah, I am fine, got a clean bill of health, a little banged up, but fine. I guess I am still trying to get my mind around what happened today, you know?"  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean, I am doing the same thing. You wanna play a little one-on-one? A little b-ball is always good for thinking."  
  
"Nah, I am wiped. I am going to catch a shower and then hit the sack. See in the morning, bro." Jesse said as he turned to leave the room.  
  
"Kay, man. See ya." Brennan replied, feeling a little like he was given the brush off, but then again they all had a very rough day. "I wonder what Shal and Emma are up to?" he said to himself and set off to find the girls.  
  
Jesse looked at himself in the mirror, seriously contemplating if he was going insane or not. He still hadn't made up his mind if he was just seeing things in the portal or if there was actually someone else in there with him. He couldn't remember getting a clear look at the figure, but then again it all happened so fast.  
  
Jesse stepped into the shower, completely relishing the feeling of the hot streams of water coming from the showerhead, he willed himself to relax. He was so wound up that his body was protesting the simple act of merely standing. *Concentrate, what did you see in the portal* he kept asking himself over and over, hoping to remember something that could convince one way or the other if what he saw was real. Eventually, Jesse could feel himself relaxing a little bit. He finished his shower, when he noticed that the water was starting to cool off. "Oh boy, I hope Shalimar didn't want a hot shower tonight" Jesse said to himself. He knew that if Shalimar was hoping to get a shower tonight, she was going to be getting a cold one, and Jesse would be in serious trouble for using all the hot water. But at this point, he could really care less. All he wanted to do was get dried off and climb into bed.  
  
Feeling sufficiently relaxed, Jesse stepped out of the shower. A blast of cold air hit his wet body, sending shivers throughout his frame. "Damn, its cold!" Jesse exclaimed, as he quickly toweled dry and slipped into some nice warm sweats and T-shirt. As Jesse climbed into bed, he never realized just how comfortable his bed really was. Unlike Brennan or Shalimar who absolutely had to have silk sheets, or Emma who really didn't care what her sheets were made of, or even Adam, well who was he kidding, Adam acted like he didn't even own a bed, he never slept in it. Jesse loved the feel of his cotton flannels sheets. It was the sheets, he was convinced that made the bed so comfortable and inviting. As soon as Jesse's head hit the pillow, he was out like a light.  
  
Jesse soon found himself back in the portal. But this time instead of traveling past the images that swirled around him, he wasn't traveling anywhere. It seemed like he was just standing in the portal, almost like he was in a room covered from floor to ceiling with television monitors and something different playing on each screen. *How did I get back here?* He thought to himself. As he looked around, he was seeing events from the past taking place and he was seeing places and events that were completely unfamiliar. Then out of the corner of his eye, he caught some movement. He took a defensive posture, as he turned to face the oncoming figure. Even though the figure was clouded by shadows, he could tell immediately that the figure was female, the way she walked was a dead give-a-way, she was average height, slim build, and had the gracefulness of an animal, almost feral-like, reminded him of Shalimar, however this person didn't did really possess the cat-like demeanor that Shalimar had, there was something else about her. He could tell that she was looking at the various images, as he could see her shadowed figure move her head from side to side, up and down, just as he had done, almost as if she was trying to take in everything that she was seeing at a glance.  
  
As he turned, she must have sensed movement as well, because she stopped dead in her tracks and crouched down in a defensive posture. *Man, that is just like Shal* Jesse thought to himself. "It's OK, I mean you no harm." Jesse said, *Great, how's that for a clichéd statement* he though simultaneously, *Her first impression of me is a cheesy "I mean you no harm" line*  
  
"You are the one from earlier, aren't you?" the figure replied, not moving from within the shadows.  
  
"Yes, I am. Are you the one that I saw in here earlier as well?" Jesse asked.  
  
"Yes." Was all the figure replied.  
  
"Do you know how or why we are back here?" he asked  
  
"Yes and No" the figure replied still in the crouched defensive posture  
  
"OK" he said with an air of irritability, "How about this. My name is Jesse, Jesse Kilmartin. And you are?"  
  
The figure didn't reply, instead however stood up and took a few steps, almost as if she were checking him out, to make sure he indeed meant no harm to her.  
  
"I am really not going to hurt you. I just need to understand, what is going on?" he said getting more concerned and confused by the minute *Am I going insane, am I really having this conversation, am I imagining this, or am I laying in the Med Lab table unconscious* he thought.  
  
"We are stuck in a dream, somehow your dream and my dream have been connected." The figure said.  
  
"Our dreams? How is that possible?"  
  
"Everything and nothing is possible"  
  
"What the hell does that mean?!"  
  
"It means that this should not be possible, somehow, earlier while you were traveling through this passageway, our paths crossed and have somehow been connected. It is my understanding that THIS should be impossible" She replied  
  
"Your understanding? How do you know this?" he asked with urgency, Jesse was getting more concerned the more that he heard. *Please let this be my imagination, please* he pleaded with himself.  
  
"I have traveled passageways similar to this before, always traveling while I am dreaming and always alone. Sometimes, nothing comes of my travels, and a few times..and well." she said with hesitancy, "lets just say I have had detours of sorts."  
  
"Detours? I am sorry, but I don't understand what you mean by detours?"  
  
In the distance Jesse began to hear a faint sound, he couldn't make it out at first, as he tried harder and harder to focus on the sound he realized it was his name.  
  
"Jesse! Jesse, wake up! Jesse!" the voice called. Jesse realized it was Emma calling him.  
  
"Sounds like its time to wake up Jesse Kilmartin" the figure said as she turned to walk away  
  
"Wait! I still don't understand what has happened here? I still don't know what your name is" he said  
  
The figure stopped, turned around and proceeded to walk into the light, the moment that she became visible, his jaw dropped.  
  
"My name is irrelevant, but if you must know it is Grae. Now wake up Jesse Kilmartin, you are needed." she said as she touched his forehead. Jesse saw a flash of light and Grae was gone.  
  
"Grae!, wait!!!!" Jesse yelled, as he bolted up in bed.  
  
"Jesse! Are you alright? I have been trying to wake you up for 30 minutes!" Emma said as she tried to get a hit off what Jesse was experiencing.  
  
"Emma? What are you doing here?" Jesse asked, as he realized that he was back in his room, back in his bed.  
  
"I came in here because I was going to check on you and then I started getting this really weird hit from you and I got a hit off someone else, but I couldn't figure out who."  
  
"You felt her? So it wasn't my imagination! Where's Bren?"  
  
"Felt who? Jesse, I am confused, who else was here?"  
  
"Grae" was all Jesse said as he was getting up out of bed and heading out of his room.  
  
"Emma, where is Brennan?" Jesse asked again this time with a little more urgency  
  
"I would think he is sparring with Shal. It is about that time." Emma replied looking at her watch.  
  
"What? What time IS it?"  
  
"2 pm" she replied  
  
"My goodness, I hadn't realized I had slept that long."  
  
"We all thought you must have been really wiped, so we let you sleep in, and then I came to check on you and I got a really strong hit off of you and of someone else. That is when I started to try and wake you up."  
  
"I am sorry Em, I don't have time to explain, right now I need to find Brennan." Jesse said as he raised his com-link to his mouth. "Brennan, can you meet me in the common room, right now?"  
  
"Yeah, sure bro. What's up?" Brennan replied.  
  
"Tell you when you get there, oh, and bring your sketch pad." Jesse said, he looked at Emma, gave her the look of "Well, aren't you coming?" and headed off to the common room. 


	4. Serious Revelry

Title: Time Cubed  
  
Author: dragons_syn  
  
Email: dragons_syn@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: NC-17 to R  
  
Pairing: Jesse and Grae (my own character)  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X or any of the characters of Mutant X. I am purely borrowing the characters for the purpose of entertainment. I do however own the character Grace/Grae Summary: (AU) Takes place after Time Squared. The effects of Gabriel Ashlocke killing his parents have unforeseen consequences.  
  
Chapter 4-Serious Revelry  
  
"What do you think this is all about?" Brennan asked Shalimar, as he walked into the common room. Jesse's request sounded pretty urgent, so they skipped their showers. Brennan ran to his room to retrieve his sketch pad and pencils, and Shalimar stayed in the common room and began her "cool down" stretches.  
  
"Don't know, but if Jesse is going to ask you to sketch something it must be pretty important" she replied  
  
"Yeah, I always thought that revealing to you guys that I can draw was going to come back and bite me in the ass." He said jokingly, as he sat down on the sofa and waited for Jesse to arrive.  
  
Moments later Jesse and Emma walked into the room.  
  
"Hey man, thanks for meeting me so quickly, I really need your help" Jesse said.  
  
"No prob, man. What's up? Why did you want me to bring this for?" Brennan asked indicating to his sketchbook.  
  
"I need your help in providing me with a picture of someone."  
  
"Why don't you just get a camera, I am sure it will look a lot better than anything I could draw."  
  
"Well, see, that is where the problem is, I dreamed her."  
  
"HER? You dreamed her? Jess, you aren't making sense, you want Brennan to draw a dream girl. Isn't that taking your dream fantasy a little too far?" Shalimar quipped.  
  
"Look guys, I know this is going to sound strange, but..well..you see."  
  
"Jesse, its OK, just tell us what you do know." Emma coaxed realizing that he was having a hard time trying to explain them what was going on.  
  
"OK, here goes." Jesse started to say  
  
"Here goes what?" Adam asked kind of feeling a little left out of the loop, as he had just walked into the room finding all four members of his family congregated and seemed to be in a discussion of some sort.  
  
"I am sorry Adam, I just wanted to get this out before I forget anything."  
  
"Get what out, what is going on?" Adam said frustrated, *this must what it feels like when I don't tell them everything.* he thought.  
  
"OK, Jesse, lets get this show on the road, then you can tell us what is going on, kay bro?" Brennan said as he waited for Jesse to describe what he wanted to draw.  
  
"Right, ok, lets see...she had long black hair, it went down to her waist. She had these amazing eyes, and this face, the face of angel, and a voice so sweet and soft, she was tall, but not as tall as I am. And she was fit, her muscles were well defined. She had this look of pained innocence, almost like she was sorry that I got dragged into whatever we were dragged into."  
  
"Kay got it, black hair to the waist, amazing eyes, and face of angel with look of pained innocence. Here, what do you think?" Brennan said as he flamboyantly made some sort of finishing touch to the picture, flipped his sketch book around, only to present a bright yellow smiley face, as he burst into laughter.  
  
"Uh, no, that is not her." Jesse said curtly.  
  
"I am sorry bro, couldn't resist, you weren't really describing anything for me to actually draw and you had this sort of dreamy look on your face, I didn't want to interrupt. OK, *deep breath* OK, let's get serious. Jess, describe each feature as best you can, and I promise no more horsing around."  
  
"Right, no more horsing around. Have to admit that was pretty funny man." Jesse said as he chuckled. "OK, she had this face."  
  
"The face of angel, we got that. What shape?" Brennan said teasingly.  
  
"Her face was circular but not a perfect circle, almost like it was just starting to turn into an oval."  
  
"Like this?"  
  
"Kinda, except a little less oval, there, there that's it"  
  
"Her nose was small, and round, exactly in the middle of her face. Her lips were full..Not that full!" Jesse said as he jabbed Brennan for making this ridiculously full lipped drawing  
  
"OW! OK, OK, a little less full. How is this?" Brennan asked as he re-drew the lips.  
  
"Better, OK, her cheekbones were high and pronounced, but not like starvation pronounced, she had small ears with three earrings in each ear, yeah like that, her hair was black and flowing, her chin was dainty and perfect."  
  
"I can draw dainty man, but you are going to need to be a bit more specific on perfect." Brennan quipped.  
  
"Funny, smart ass. Her chin was dainty and perfectly centered to the face with no flaws, perfectly round."  
  
"OK, how is this?" Brennan showed Jesse what they had so far.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, that looks like her, now for her eyes.Her eyes were amazing" Jesse said almost dreamily.  
  
"OK, again man, you have to be a more specific on amazing..OW! Shal? I was just kidding!" Brennan exclaimed has he had just be hit upside the head by Shalimar.  
  
"I know, just wanted to beat him to it." Shalimar said with a smirk.  
  
"Jeez, tough crowd." Brennan replied.  
  
"Her eyes were soft, but focused but also sad, they were almond shaped but not quite as long and oval. They had an animal like quality, like a, a..that's it!" Jesse exclaimed as he jumped up and ran out of the room yelling "Don't go anywhere, I will be right back!"  
  
"What got into him?" Adam asked. "Will someone explain to me what the hell is going on here?"  
  
"We really don't know, Adam." Emma replied. "I went to check on Jesse, and as I got closer to his room I got a really powerful hit off of him, he wasn't in any danger, but he was emotionally charged, and then I got a hit off someone else, someone I didn't recognize and the hit was coming from Jesse's room. When I got inside, I didn't see anyone else but Jesse, so I tried to wake him up, I kept calling his name, he was breathing and didn't appear to be in any trouble, so I kept shaking him and calling his name. I started to get worried after about 30 minutes and then when I was about to call you guys, he woke up yelling the word "gray" and then here we are."  
  
"30 minutes! Why didn't you call me sooner" Adam asked concerned.  
  
"I know, but like I said, I didn't feel like he was in any danger, part of me hoped he was really tired and was really enjoying whatever dream he was having."  
  
Jesse came running back in the room "Got it!" he yelled triumphantly as he held up a book.  
  
"Her eyes were exactly like this." Jesse said as he pointed to a picture of a Grey wolf. "That is what she reminded of, she had this feral attitude around her, the way she moved, the way she stood defensively, the way she just stood, it reminded me of you, Shal, but not quite. She reminded me a wolf. And her eyes were exactly like this. And they were two colors, not like one eye was one color and the other eye was the other color, it was almost like it shimmered. Her eyes were the deepest of deepest of blues in one light, then she looked up into my eyes and they turned into the greenest of green. It was amazing."  
  
"OK, first of all I take offense to be compared to a canine, and secondly, Jesse, are you OK? I thought Adam said you were fine, are you sure you aren't imagining things. Maybe you hit your head yesterday." Shalimar retorted.  
  
"I am fine, Shal. Something has happened that I can't explain it all yet. I may not be able to explain it all."  
  
"Jesse, how about you start from the beginning." Adam said  
  
"Yeah, you are right. Remember yesterday when I asked if any of you saw anybody while going through the portal? Well, I did. At first I thought I was imagining things, but then last night as I was sleeping I dreamed I was back in the portal. And she." pointing at the picture "was there with me. It seems that somehow our paths crossed and we got connected somehow. Or at least that is what she says. I was standing still looking at the all images that were around me, then I saw something out of the corner of my eye, when I turned to face her, she saw me and crouched. We started to talk, and she wasn't really to concise or eager to provide answers, but all she really knew is that we were dreaming and somehow our dreams were connected and that the connection shouldn't have happened. She said that she has "traveled" through portals similar to the one that we went through before. She said she always traveled alone and always when she was dreaming, and that sometimes nothing ever came of her travels and sometimes she had detours. What she meant by detours I don't know, we didn't get that far. The next thing I know I hear Emma calling my name and she was telling to go and wake up. And then I woke up and here we are." Pausing to take a breath "Look, I know that this sounds far fetched, but considering the things that we have seen, the events of yesterday, this could be entirely possible. Right?"  
  
"Yes, it could be possible, I mean a new mutant with the ability to open time portals is definitely an amazing feat in and of itself, so it would be conceivable that there would be a new mutant who could astral project themselves into these "portals" as you put it to "travel". I don't see why it wouldn't be possible. However, I would like to speak with this young woman, and maybe we could get a better understanding of exactly what kind of new mutant she is. Maybe she has additional gifts as well. Jesse, why don't you run this picture through the new mutant database, here and at Genomex, and see if you can find her."  
  
"You got it!" Jesse said with an air of excitement, he couldn't wait to meet this girl face to face.  
  
"Hey Jess, does your dream girl have a name?" Brennan asked as Jesse was leaving the room.  
  
"Grae" was all Jesse said as he disappeared behind his computer terminal.  
  
"Grae? Then it was HER, he was calling after when he woke up. That makes sense now." Emma said. 


	5. Heart to Heart

Title: Time Cubed  
  
Author: dragons_syn  
  
Email: dragons_syn@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: NC-17 to R  
  
Pairing: Jesse and Grae (my own character)  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X or any of the characters of Mutant X. I am purely borrowing the characters for the purpose of entertainment. I do however own the character Grace/Grae Summary: (AU) Takes place after Time Squared. The effects of Gabriel Ashlocke killing his parents have unforeseen consequences.  
  
Chapter 5 - heart to heart  
  
The sun shone through the window heralding its vicious wake up call, Grace groaned and rolled over, taking her pillow and covering her head. Desperately hoping to escape the dream world she was just in, that had plagued her entire life in the past, but at the same time, hoping to stay and talk some more to the intriguing young man she has just met. The young man named Jesse Kilmartin, who had eyes the color of the sky and a face that could make any woman melt.  
  
*Why me* she thought to herself, *why am I the only one who has to do this, just for once can't someone else take these non-acid induced acid trips* She had the monster of all migraines. She always did after one of her trips into the "realm" as she so adoringly called it.  
  
She rolled out of bed, and still half asleep maneuvered around the obstacle course that was her bedroom, out the door and into the bathroom. Downing four Excedrin migraine pills, she headed out to the kitchen. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she was met by all three of her brothers, sitting in the kitchen. They looked over at her, as if they had been waiting all morning for her to make her presence known.  
  
"You told them, did you?" She accused Tommy.  
  
"Well, yeah! You didn't thing that this was a thing that we could not tell them. Did you?" Tommy waited for an answer, and when he didn't get an immediate response, "You did!"  
  
"Well, not entirely" she timidly replied "just until I knew what was going on, its been awhile since I started dreaming about the passageways again, so I was kinda hoping that this was kinda a tour, and not a detour. And I still don't know by the way." She said stubbornly sticking her tongue out at the brother.  
  
"Well. If it had been a detour, we wouldn't have known about it until it was too late, now would we?" Doug said, trying to be the parental figure of the moment. "It's just that we don't want to lose you"  
  
"I know, I should have told you, but, well.its..hell. I didn't want to worry you."  
  
"Well, too bad kiddo, worry comes with the territory. OK, sit down, who's up for breakfast?" Doug said as he was pulling out ingredients for omelets.  
  
"Grace, spill" Tommy persisted  
  
"Now? I thought we agreed after breakfast." Giving Tommy her best puppy dog eyes.  
  
"Close enough, what is going on?"  
  
"OK, fine, last night I was dreaming, and I started to travel through this passageway. But this time it was different. In the past, the events that I see around me are completely unfamiliar. This time, there were some events that I recognized intermixed with others that I didn't recognize. And then I saw this guy, he was traveling too. The first time I saw him."  
  
"The first time?! There has been more than one time?!" Joey interjected  
  
"Ahem, as I was saying the first time I only saw him for a split second, almost like a flash. And I felt his presence. It was weird, I didn't feel threatened, but I didn't know if he meant me any harm, but it all happened to fast, I didn't get the chance to find out. Then I woke up, made myself a sandwich, almost killed Tom" she said as she elbowed Tom in the ribs  
  
"Yeah, don't remind me"  
  
"When I finally fell asleep again, this time I was able to travel at my own speed. Stop and take a look at the events and images. That was something I have never been able to do. As I was trying to understand why my travel method had changed, I saw some movement ahead of me. It was this guy, actually it was THE guy, the one from earlier. He was just standing and looking at the events too. He asked if I was the one he saw earlier and he asked me my name, and he asked if I knew what was going on. He asked a lot of questions. I tried to answer his questions, but I couldn't really answer how our dreams were connected. Something has changed since the last time I experienced the "traveling" and I don't know what it is or if it is a good or bad thing." Grace paused to gauge the look on Doug, Joey and Tommy's faces, to see if their worry had been somewhat alleviated. "and that was it, the next thing I know the sun is shining on my face and I have the mother of all mother of headaches."  
  
"Well, if something has changed, we would have no way of knowing what that is, or if it a good or bad thing, until it happens." Doug said as he dished up plates for breakfast.  
  
"There is one way." Grace piped up softly avoiding eye contact with any of the boys.  
  
"Absolutely not! You are never doing that again. We almost didn't get you back the last time you tried that!" Doug said sternly. "Over my dead body are you attempting that again."  
  
"I didn't try it the last time. It just happened. And we may not have a choice here, I may not have a choice!" She exclaimed. "We, I have never understood exactly why I have these abilities, why I "travel", how I am able to cross time. Maybe, this could give me the answers to all the questions that we have ever asked. I know it is risky, and if I thought there was a safer way, I would try and do that, but right now, I think this might be the only way."  
  
"But how are you going to go about it? You can't just pick up the phone and ask the operator for the listing for "the mysterious voice who can answer why do I exist", now can you?" Doug countered sarcastically. He was faced with losing the girl, the woman he had grown to love like a sister.  
  
"No, but if I am able to control the rate of my "travels" to take a better look at what was happening in the passageway, and if I am able to talk to Jesse." she began  
  
"Jesse? Who the hell is Jesse?" Joey interjected.  
  
"He is the guy I was telling you about in the passageway. Stay with me here. Like I was saying if I am able to talk with Jesse, who is to say that I just can't call out for answers and get some back in return, this time safely. And besides, I am a lot stronger than when I was 15, when you guys rescued me. I have had a little more practice with this, maybe not all good practice, but still."  
  
"I still don't like it." Doug grumbled.  
  
"You don't have to like it. Look I know you love me and I love you all too, but this might be something that is beyond my control. I might not be able." Looking over at the clock, "Oh my God, is that the time, I need to get to work!" She said as she jumped up from the table, stuffing that last bite of omelet in her mouth. "Thanks for breakfast and for listening" she said as she kissed each one and ran to her room to change for work. 


	6. You've got questions, you don't get the ...

Time Cubed  
  
Author: dragons_syn  
  
Email: dragons_syn@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: NC-17 to R  
  
Pairing: Jesse and Grae (my own character)  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X or any of the characters of Mutant X. I am purely borrowing the characters for the purpose of entertainment. I do however own the character Grace/Grae Summary: (AU) Takes place after Time Squared. The effects of Gabriel Ashlocke killing his parents have unforeseen consequences.  
  
Chapter 6 - You've got questions, you don't get the answers  
  
Grace returned home to an empty house. The note in the kitchen said that Joey went out with friends, no doubt he would be stumbling home somewhere around dawn, and according to the calendar, her remaining brothers would be working late. Grace didn't know how Doug had managed it, but he managed somehow to save enough money to buy martial arts dojo. Doug was always the smart one, he had busted his ass to keep the family afloat, and still managed to get a degree and a masters degree in business. And it was paying off. They had more money now, but they were far from rich, but they were comfortable. Doug keeps telling them about how someday soon, he wants to buy a house for the family, a real home where they all can be safe and loved. *That would be nice* she thought to herself. She didn't really know what it was like to be loved until her knights in shining armor rescued her that fateful day.  
  
"Hey, snap out of it, why think of such sad things" she told herself. "What am I going to eat for dinner?"  
  
As Grace stared into the refrigerator, she couldn't help but remember a completely different time of her life.  
  
  
  
She couldn't remember exactly when it started, she could remember as far back as when she was four years old, but she knew it had always been this way. She could make her toys come to her without a second thought, she could make things would move without her being near them. It was always like this. Always that is, until her parents found out she could do it. Then mysterious more serious things would happen. She couldn't explain it, her parents couldn't explain it, and they didn't like it. Objects would still move for no reason, but then things started to explode for no reason as well, and she would start to disappear for hours on end and not really know where she went or how she got there. Her parents would find her out in the backyard, in the basement, underneath the kitchen table. When these occurrences started to happen too frequently, that is when her parents decided that they would lock her in her room, lock her away from the world. Sometimes for days on end, cut off from the outside world, her only link, her only form of education was the television. Her parents became mere specters in her life. The only time she would see either of them was when they were bringing her food. Often times they wouldn't even talk to her, sometimes not even look at her. It was almost like they were ashamed of her. Yet they still took care of her, brought her food, clothes, toys, books, games, but never really engaged her. Instead she felt like some sort of animal at the zoo, stuck in a cage to be looked after and fed. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into years, eventually the television was accompanied by a computer, that was state of the art and complete with a cable modem. It was from either the television or her computer, that she taught herself to read and write, it was from these devices that she could see the world outside, what people looked like, how people behaved, a glimpse of a world other than her world of toys, books, scratched up walls and a canopy bed. As she grew older, stuffed animals and Barbies didn't interest her. Surfing the Net became on obsession, over the years she had become a very skilled hacker, so she utilized this skill to search the Web for anything she could find on why objects moved by themselves, and why objects exploded seemingly by themselves and why was she dreaming of places and people from other times, anything that could help her to understand what was going on with her, anything to help her to understand who or what she was. Every night she would notice that that she would dream of places that were unfamiliar to her, there seemed to be one place that she would dream of more often than any other. In her dream, she could see a quaint two story house with smoke coming from its chimney, she could see children playing in the yards and fields around the house, there were five children. She could see the mother hanging the laundry on the line and shooing the children away so they didn't get it dirty again. She could see that for as far as the eye could see there was nothing but vast fields. Wheat, she thought, maybe hay, maybe both. She could see livestock in the barn and in the sty, she could see the chickens running around freely. Every night she would dream, often of the same quaint little cottage in the fields, every morning how she wished she could live there, but every morning she found herself locked in her room, and every morning she would have a monster of a headache. Then one morning she noticed the walls of her bedroom appeared to be scratched up, like an animal was stuck in the room and tried to dig its way out, and then on another morning her pillow had been ripped to shreds. What ever was happening to her, it frightened her. She pleaded with her parents to talk to her, to help her to understand what was going on within herself. She pleaded with her parents to let her out, for just one day, one hour, just for a little while, to see how much the world had changed for herself, and not through some box in her room. And with each passing day and each denied request she grew angrier, and as she grew angrier, her dreams became more vivid, and her room looked like a war zone every morning and the frequency of exploding objects increased as well.  
  
While searching the Net, she could surmise that she obviously had unique powers, but from all the information that she had read throughout the years, nothing really explained who or what she was. There was no documentation about her dreams, only her abilities or "gifts" as one of her cyber-friends put it. She eventually learned that her "gifts" were linked to her emotions, if she got to angry, things would explode, she would exude some sort of telekinetic power and take her anger out on inanimate objects, akin to punching a punching bag. As she learned to control her emotions, she found that she couldn't control the dreams, and they became even more intense, often times it felt like she was actually in the places that she dreamed. This frightened her even more. *How could this be possible she thought.* She would think to herself. Then one day it happened.  
  
She had just concluded a interesting chat session with her occult internet community group, she was amazed at how many other people had the same "gift" that she did, although maybe not the degree that she was, but still it made her feel good. It made her feel like part of the human race again, not some freak who had been locked up by her parents for 10 years because they were ashamed of her. She signed off bidding all of her friends good night and that she would talk to them tomorrow and made preparations to go to bed. As she started to drift off to sleep, she started to dream again, this time she dreamed that she was "traveling" through this corridor of some sort, she wasn't walking, she was gliding, the images she saw didn't make sense to her. There were images that she didn't recognize, people who she did not know, of course being locked up in her room she didn't know many people. She wasn't just dreaming of a specific place this time, she was dreaming about several places. The images that she saw pass by quickly and she only caught glimpses of each image. The next thing she knew she was in standing the fields near that quaint little house of her dreams. She was in Medieval Europe. The place she had been dreaming about for months prior, while she dreamt all those times before she always had this feeling like she was standing there on the hillside. She could feel the wind on her body, she could smell the wheat growing in the fields, she could hear children playing in the distance. Then she realized that she was standing on the hillside, and that she was feeling the wind and smelling the wheat and hearing the children, she could see the children. They were running towards her. *How is this possible?* She thought to herself. *How can I possibly be here? I am only dreaming. This is really vivid dream, but I am only dreaming.* She was in such a state of shock that she didn't realize the children were standing right in front of her, talking to her. When she didn't respond, the eldest of the children ran back to the house to summon his parents.  
  
The next thing she remembered is that she was being carried down off the hillside. By the time she regained her composure, she realized that someone was carrying her. Upon that realization, she screamed and quickly jumped out the man's arms. The man, presumably the father of the children and later was confirmed to be the father, tried to calm her down. She was inconsolable, she was hysterical. She kept repeating "This is a dream, this is a dream, this is a dream". It took quite a few hours of prodding from the mother to calm her down, get her properly clothed and fed. But before long, she began to realize that she was out of her room, she was not locked up anymore. She was overjoyed. She was free! She was free, but where was she free. She was born in 1978, and here it was 1485, Henry VII's reign of rule. "How was this possible" she would ask herself everyday that she stayed with Mr. and Mrs. MacIntyre and their five children: Martin, Samuel, Agatha, Martha, and little Joseph.  
  
At first she was shy and hid a lot in the loft of the barn. Martin, the eldest, would always come and find her. If he couldn't coax her out of her hiding spot, he would bring her food and leave it for her for when she was ready to come out and eat. Eventually she came out of her shell and began to talk to Martin. They were the same age, 14, so they hit it off right from the start. They talked for hours on end about whatever they wanted. She would always ask about him and his family, she wanted to know everything about having a family. She wanted to know what it was like to live on the farm, to put it simply to be able to go outside. When Martin would ask about her and her family or how she ended up at their farm without so much as a bag of clothes, or shoes for that matter. She would always try to skirt around the subject of her parents or how she got their house. Martin, although disappointed, would always understand and say that he was there whenever she was ready to talk about it. She loved him for that. Days progressed into weeks, weeks progressed into months. Before she knew it, it had been two months that she had spent with the MacIntyres. And then she started to dream again. It was during this time that she dubbed her dreams: traveling. That was exactly was it was "traveling" she was going to different places and different times and she had no control over them. Once she found herself in Feudal China, but only for a very brief time, not longer than a night, because she was back at "home" the next morning, and another time she found herself in Ancient India, also for a very brief time. Every morning, she and Martin would talk about her dreams, at first he thought she was loosing her mind, but she never went into explicit details. She would just describe the places that she saw and what the people wore, and Martin would just sit and listen. He had told her that she had a very vivid imagination. She, of course, knew these places existed, but how was she going to explain that to Martin, so she just let him think it was her wild imagination. She found that she was experiencing a quiet peace that she never had before. She was able to talk to someone about what was happening to her, she had someone who cared for her enough to listen to her. She had someone who would listen without condemning her. She loved that. She craved that. That was the missing piece to her life, her life back with her parents.  
  
As time went on, she and Martin would spend more and more time together. They would take long walks down to the lake, and stay together all day, much to the dismay of Mr. MacIntyre. Martin had chores and responsibilities that were not being fulfilled because of his attachment to her. Despite his father's disapproval of the time being spent, he didn't begrudge her. As it came upon the one year anniversary of her arrival to the MacIntyre family, she and Martin were sitting by the lake throwing stones into the lake, when their discussion took an interesting turn.  
  
"Grace?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Do you like it here?"  
  
"Yes, I love it here. Why do you ask?" she asked, closing her eyes as she laid down on the shore of the lake basking in the warmth of the sun  
  
"Just wondering..you see..I was wondering, well we, that is my family and I were wondering.."  
  
"Martin, you're mumbling"  
  
"Aye, that I am."  
  
"What's this about?" she asked, she was getting curious as to what Martin what getting at  
  
When he didn't say anything, she opened her eyes to find him looking down at her. Before she could ask again, Martin had given her a soft kiss on the lips. Her eyes got wide and she pulled back slightly.  
  
"Grace, please accept my apologies. I didn't mean to overstep my bounds."  
  
She had read all about kissing on the Web, but reading about it and experiencing it were two completely different issues. She felt like she had a million butterflies trapped in her stomach, her face became flushed, and she felt what seemed like an electric current run through her body when his lips touched hers. This was a feeling unlike any other. She didn't know what to make of it. All she knew was that she wanted to feel it again.  
  
"No. No, Martin. Don't apologize. You didn't overstep any bounds, it was just unexpected." She said as she leaned over to give him a kiss. This time catching Martin off guard. She remembered the look on his face, he never expected her to kiss him. Never the less, they enjoyed the moment for what is was. The moment they realized that they has intense feelings for one another, feelings that may be love.  
  
Then one morning she awoke to find Martin sitting in the room that she shared with Agatha and Martha. She had been dreaming again, she had been "traveling" to yet another place she didn't recognize. He had this look of pure contempt in his eyes.  
  
"Martin? What's wrong? Is everything alright?" She whispered not wanting to wake up the girls. It was unusual for Martin to be up in their room, she was concerned. Then he grabbed her by the arm, dragged her out of bed, hissed at her to be silent, shoved her out of the room and out of the house and ordered her to leave.  
  
"Be gone from this place, woman!" Martin yelled as he let go of her arm  
  
"Martin, what is wrong with you!" she yelled back  
  
"Be gone, witch, you will not bring the devil upon my family, be gone or I will not be held accountable for my actions" he said with anger  
  
"Witch?! What are talking about! I am no witch!"  
  
"Aye, you are, witch, I saw you this very night, make the change into a wolf. I saw you with my own eyes. You changed into the wolf so you could work your dark magic on me and my brethren. I will not let you bring evil upon us." He said as he took a step forward threateningly.  
  
"I what? I couldn't have! That is impossible! I would know if I could change into a wolf?" she said *I would, wouldn't I?* she thought to herself.  
  
"Be gone! Leave this place and don't come back, I am no longer affected by your dark magic. I will no longer fall for you attempts to make me embrace evil. I have seen your true form. Now leave vile creature!" he hissed  
  
She knew Martin too well, the look in his eyes told her everything. She knew that there was no talking to him. All she could do was run, she turned and ran as fast and as far as her legs could carry her. She didn't understand what was happening. *A wolf? How could I have changed into a wolf?* she kept thinking. *That explains the scratch marks on my bedroom walls and the torn pillows. That explains why I ended up in those strange places around the house. But how? Why?* She didn't know who long or how far she ran before she finally managed to stop running. She was exhausted. She had come upon a felled tree that had been hollowed out by the forest creatures and decided to take refuge there. As she curled up into the fetal position all she could think of was the look in Martin's eyes. He had this look of betrayal. He thought of her as a witch, as someone who violated his trust, his love. She couldn't bear to have him look at her that way. She started to cry, she cried for the loss of the only real family she knew and she cried for the loss of the only real person who loved her. As she drifted off to sleep, all she could think of what how sorry she was to bring such sorrow to the MacIntyres, to Martin.  
  
  
  
A single tear fell down Grace's face. She quickly wiped it away. She realized that the time she spent with the MacIntyres was the really the first time that nothing weird happened. Nothing exploded, she didn't make anything move, she didn't have shredded pillows. That was the first time she was really and truly happy. "That was long ago, I have a real family now, they accept me for who I am, they love me and I love them, that is what is most important." she said to herself as she brought herself out of her revelry.  
  
She wasn't hungry anymore, so she left the kitchen and headed for the shower. She was sore all over. "I definitely overdid it during training" she said to herself as she stepped into the shower. She decided to get a work out at the dojo today before work. Often times she found if she got out her aggressions at the dojo, then she could handle the trials and tribulations of her job. Being a female bartender was very demanding. Not because the job itself was taxing, but it was more fending off all the creeps and jerks who were constantly hitting on her. Tonight, somehow every drunk bastard that came near her manage to spill their drink on her. She smelt like a brewery. "If I didn't already have an aversion to alcohol, this would definitely do it" she muttered as she started to wash the stench of alcohol off her body. After washing her hair and body for the fourth time, she began to think about if she was going to see Jesse tonight. For the past three nights, she had dreamed, for the past three nights she had violated her brother's trust and attempted to contact someone or something that could provide answers, for the past three nights she still didn't have an answer, and for three nights HE was not there. She was beginning to wonder if he was real or was he a figment of her imagination or was he was something else. As she stepped out of the shower and dried off she began to remember that there was something special about Jesse. Something that she couldn't get out her mind. He had this look of pure unadulterated innocence. One look into his eyes told her that he was a man of his word and a man of conviction and passion. He was loyal to those he cared about. He was a man who would give up everything in order to help someone else. She liked that in him. "I hope you are real, Jesse Kilmartin. I hope you are real." She said aloud, hoping that somehow someway the universe would hear her and maybe, just maybe tonight, they might meet tonight. 


	7. Disappointments

Title: Time Cubed  
  
Author: dragons_syn  
  
Email: dragons_syn@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: NC-17 to R  
  
Pairing: Jesse and Grae (my own character)  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Mutant X or any of the characters of Mutant X. I am purely borrowing the characters for the purpose of entertainment. I do however own the character Grace/Grae Summary: (AU) Takes place after Time Squared. The effects of Gabriel Ashlocke killing his parents have unforeseen consequences.  
  
Chapter 7 - Disappointments  
  
"Has he moved?" Shalimar asked Emma, while they stared at Jesse, who seemed to be obsessed with finding this dream girl of his.  
  
"Nope, the computer didn't come up with a match, so he is going through every file looking for her. He hasn't slept for three days. I found him dozing about an hour ago, but he got up and grabbed some more coffee and went right back at it."  
  
"This is insane, he needs to get some sleep, this can't be good for him, obsessing over a dream?"  
  
"Shal, its more than a dream. It's real, at least for Jesse, it's real. I haven't really been able to say one way for another yet. I know I felt another presence, but that could have been any number of things."  
  
"Can't you just hit him with some sleep or something?"  
  
"Shalimar! You know I can't do that!" Emma exclaimed slightly offended but at the same time ashamed as she remembered the events that happened in Kovekistan.  
  
"I know, I know, I am just worried about him. Of all of us, I am the obsessive one, not Jess. He is the level-headed one."  
  
"Yeah, well we all have things that plague our minds, for Jesse it happens to be this girl, whoever she is. I just hope for his sake she is real" Emma said with some sadness, she could sense how much hope Jesse had a few days ago when he started on his search for this girl and she could see that as time went on that the hope slowly vanished and was replaced with anguish. She had been trying to get Jesse to talk to her about what he was feeling, what he was thinking, but all he would do was tell her he had work to do.  
  
"He's still at, huh" Brennan said walking into the room, breaking Emma's revelry.  
  
"Yep" Emma and Shalimar replied in unison.  
  
"Isn't there anything we can do, I mean he's been at it for three days straight. Even Adam sleeps at least for one hour in three days, albeit it is at his desk, but he still sleeps." Brennan said, turning to the girls.  
  
"Can't make him do something he doesn't want to do." Emma replied "Well, I can, but I am not going to" she said jokingly  
  
"OH! And the psionic shoots and she scores! That was pretty funny. Em." Brennan said as he chuckled.  
  
Jesse could tell that the guys were talking about him, the way they kept looking over at him and talking amongst themselves, he didn't care. He was too tired to care. *Where are you Grae?* He thought to himself. *Why can't I find you? Did I imagine you? Or do you really exist* When the computer didn't come up with a match in either their underground database or in Genomex's database, Jesse decided to go through each file to see if maybe the computer missed her. And here it was three days later and he still hadn't found her. It was entirely possible that she wasn't in the database, there are a lot of new mutants who were not in the database, but Jesse kept hoping that she would be. He wanted to talk to her again, to see her again, to gaze into those beautiful eyes of hers and get lost in her sheer radiance.  
  
"You skipped a few, man." Brennan said as he came up behind Jesse.  
  
"Huh? Oh hey bro. I guess I did. Everyone of these pictures is a blur now, I don't think I would be able to see her, even if she was in this database." Jesse said as he rubbed his eyes.  
  
"Well then maybe you should get some sleep, start fresh tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah, I think that would be a good idea." Jesse said as he slowly pushed himself up from his chair. "Hey thanks, I guess I just needed a shove to get me away from this computer" he said as he put his hand on Brennan's shoulder.  
  
"Anytime man."  
  
"If all it took was a shove, hell, we could have handled that." Shalimar quipped as she smiled at Jesse.  
  
"Don't get any ideas" he said as he chuckled "See you tomorrow guys."  
  
"Night!" Emma said as she watched Jesse yawn, as he turned and headed towards his bedroom.  
  
Jesse didn't realize just how exhausted he was until he entered his bedroom and saw his bed. He was trying to decide whether he should take a shower or not. "Ah, screw it, take one tomorrow, dumbass, did you even have to think about it." He said to himself as he climbed into bed. His last thought before falling asleep was *I will find you, Grae, wherever you are hiding. I will find you* 


End file.
